earth27fandomcom-20200216-history
Norsefire Party
History Born from the aftermath of the 1987 terrorist attack and subsequent outbreaks of the St. Mary's Virus (also known as St. Mary's Hemorrhagic Fever, SMHF, SMV, or the Manhattan Plague), Norsefire became the ruling party of the United Kingdom after Adrian Veidt was implicated in the 1987 terrorist attack and the pandemics which followed. As Veidt had been an ally of the previous party and played a large role in the rebuilding efforts of London, Norsefire campaigned on a platform of bringing Veidt to justice and was supported by the Viadoxic pharmaceutical company which had engineered a vaccine for the most deadly strain of SMV. This fervor combined with the immense resources and publicity led to Norsefire winning in a landslide victory with 87% of the vote. Following the election, in the months afterward, political rivals of Norsefire accused the party of tampering with the election process, suppressing votes, and other acts of misconduct. This had a devastating effect on the British economy, leading to mass riots. The government nearly collapsed and chaos overran the country, leading to mobilization of the military to restore order. Many of Norsefire's most prolific party members had shares in Viadoxic and other large, successful businesses. They had the appearance of wealth and stability and used this to convince the nation they knew best how to unite the country. Between 2000 to 2004, Norsefire ordered the collection of political 'dissidents': radicals, activists, and influential liberals. Most of those arrested were imprisoned on fraudulent charges and few ever saw trials. Those not arrested did little to oppose the government's actions, mostly out of fear. As Norsefire tightened its grip on London and England, it neglected the rest of the United Kingdom and slowly, one by one, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales left the UK. Northern Ireland and Wales united with Ireland to form a new united kingdom, the United Kingdom of Ireland and Wales, while Scotland became a sovereign nation. The collapse of the UK and the rise of England as an independent entity gave Norsefire another opportunity to unite its citizens, declaring "England prevails!" as a rallying cry. Adam Sutler capitalized on his staunch conservative base's support and lack of liberal opposition to solidify his power on the nation, engineering the abolishment of the position of Prime Minister and the creation of the office of High Chancellor, a lifetime appointment of power which allowed him to overhaul the government almost entirely. Following Sutler's rise to High Chancellorship, minorities such as those of African, Arabic or Asian descent were rounded up and sent to 'rehabilitation camps.' Other groups such as Jews, homosexuals, metahumans, mages, Atlanteans, and those expressing leftist views were also arrested whenever they showed the slightest resistance to the party. Norsefire sank its influence into the Church of England, promoting and demoting members of the clergy as Sutler saw fit. It took over the television companies, creating NTV (Norsefire Television) and the BTN (British Television Network). It produced and implemented the technologies which would allow for a closely-monitored society, including closed-circuit television cameras, mobile audio collection, facial recognition, long-range retinal scanning software, and the artificial intelligence known as 'Fate.' Even the Crown was not above Sutler's power. Whenever the monarchy opposed Sutler's actions, Sutler would declare their opposition treasonous and order arrests to be made. Between 1998 and 2016, there have been six monarchs. Two abdicated on BTN (albeit forcibly), two died from SMV complications, and one fled the country and was declared to have abdicated in absentia. The current monarch is Queen Zara, a sixteen-year-old girl. Structure Norsefire has seven primary government divisions with anatomical names: * The Head is the executive authority. This division is comprised of High Chancellor Adam Sutler and the seven ministers of the other seven branches of the Norsefire government, as well as the Fate supercomputer which is something of an eighth artificial minister. Adam Sutler formerly operated out of 10 Downing Street, but has since been relocated to an undisclosed underground location. The Head's meetings are still conducted at 10 Downing Street, however, as are the key aids in Sutler's administration, with Sutler working remotely via broadcasted closed-circuit feeds and digital messaging. * The Hand is the enforcement authority. This division is made up of Minister of the Hand Peter Creedy. The agents under his supervision act as the secret police of the Norsefire party and are known as the "Fingers" or "Fingermen". The Hand is housed in the Century House, former home of MI6. * The Ear is the surveillance and domestic intelligence authority. This division is headed by Minister of the Ear Bunny Etheridge. It is most known for its mobile listening vans which patrol the city collecting data. More recently, it has begun testing Fate-linked listening devices that citizens can volunteer to install in their homes for tax subsidies. The Ear is headquartered at the Thames House, former home of MI5. * The Nose is the investigative branch of the government. This division is headed by Minister of the Nose, Chief Inspector Eric Finch. This is the official police force and justice system which investigates criminal matters. The Nose is headquartered in Scotland Yard. Chief Inspector Finch has been personally assigned to the apprehension of Evey Hammond. * The Mouth is the propaganda arm of Norse and supervising entity over NTV and BTN. Minister of the Mouth Roger Dascomb oversees this division which is housed at Jordan Tower. Another key member of the Ministry of the Mouth is Lewis Prothero, the so-called "Voice of London" whose popular programs on BTN have been influential in promoting Dascomb's agenda. * The Eye is the external intelligence agency, monitoring foreign countries and effecting counter-intelligence operations against its operatives on English soil. Minister of the Eye is Helen Heyer. The Eye is currently conducting an investigation against Penelope Black and her resistance movement. * The Heart is the political leadership, overseeing the domestic programs, tax collection, and advising Sutler on appointments. Minister Rose Almond oversees this program. * The Soul is the reorganized Church of England which sees to the ostensibly religious matters of the nation. While technically the monarch, Queen Zara, is the supreme governor of this branch and the Archbishop of Canterbury was the most senior cleric, Adam Sutler has effected a change that the senior cleric of St. Paul's Cathedral, the Archbishop of London, should lead the Church. The current Archbishop of London is Anthony Lilliman. The Soul also oversees the disciplining of heretical movements, most notably magic users. Working with the Hand, the Soul has begun public witch-burnings as a means to stoke further anti-magical bigotry. * Fate is the supercomputer artificial intelligence that acts as a coordinating entity between the different ministries. It is considered outdated by newer supercomputers due to its age and England's isolation preventing access to newer, more efficient technology. As a result, Sutler had its mainframe relocated to a secret location where he claims to personally oversee its operation and maintenance. Most of the other ministers are expressed disdain for the computer, believing that at best it is an outdated relic incapable of performing its functions on the level Sutler believes it suitable and, at worst, a compromised inorganic being hacked by foreign powers or corrupted by Sutler's incompetence. Other Notable Party Members * Lewis Prothero, as mentioned earlier, is the "Voice of London," a popular 'journalist' and television personality. He began his television career as the spokesperson for the Viadoxic pharmaceutical company which his father owned. He made several televised appearances in support of Adam Sutler and became addicted to his celebrity status, leaving Viadoxic to be run by others when his father passed in order to focus on maintaining his popularity and status. His later partnership with Roger Dascomb saw him rise to the "Voice of London" status he currently enjoys. * Delia Surridge is the chief forensic consultant for the Nose. * Dominic Stone is a young detective of the Nose. He is the protege of Chief Inspector Finch. * George Cross is a high-ranking agent of the Ear. * Cyril Sheldrake, the Earl of Wordenshire. Though he originally expressed opposition to the party, he has since toed the party line and is a charitable donor to the party, working closely with the Ministry of the Heart. Since the passing of Derek Almond, Cyril is rumored to have begun dating Minister Almond. Cyril and his young assistant Beryl Hutchinson are regular sights at prominent Norsefire gatherings. * Jack Kellor is a crime boss who is allowed to operate unbothered by Norsefire due to his bribing of Peter Creedy and assistance in matters which even Norsefire could not be associated with publicly. Rumors suggest that Kellor is also a closeted metahuman or may have homosexual tendencies, both of which have unsettled Sutler and put a wedge between him and Creedy. * Roger Huntoon is a psychiatrist who is often seen on BTN promoted Norsefire's anti-magic rhetoric. He often criticizes John Constantine by name as Constantine had been a former patient of Huntoon's, bringing up John's many addictions and 'sexual deviancy' as evidence that magic is an evil which Norsefire must eradicate. * Bill Hunter and his wife Holly Ransome-Hunter are the father and stepmother of Timothy Hunter. They have joined the anti-magical movement after witnessing Tim Hunter use magic to seemingly obliterate Holly's son, Cyril. They often accompany Roger Huntoon on his televised appearances and the occasional public witch-burning. * Daphne Pennyworth is the personal assistant of Roger Dascomb. * Charles Pinckney is a talented sharpshooter who considers himself a patriot. Despite his disdain for the Norsefire regime, he continues to support his motherland out of duty. He works as a talented Fingermen. * Lionel Hawkins is a sanctioned assassin in the employ of the Hand. * Jon Drake is the leader of the Establishment, the only state-sponsored team of metahumans operating in Norsefire. Drake himself is not a metahuman, only a high-ranking member of the Hand with extensive military and intelligence experience. * The Colonel is a metahuman in support of the Norsefire party and a top operative in the Hand, working as the public face of the Establishment and its field commander. Creedy sees him as a useful tool to recruit other metahuman operatives to the cause for the defense of Norsefire. Sutler objects to the use of the Colonel but has so far allowed it only as the Colonel produces tangible results. It helps that Colonel is a walking/talking Norsefire stereotype who vocally expresses party rhetoric and disdain for minorities, including other metahumans. * The Pharmacist is a human contagion, whose body is a petri dish of all manner of virulence and toxins. It is said his powers were gained after the SMV activated his metagene. He doesn't speak much but wears the Norsefire flag as a mask and central element to his dark costume. The only discernible feature is his augmented cybernetic fingers through which he injects his contaminated blood. Though known mostly for bringing plagues to Norsefire enemies, he has also saved the lives of Norsefire members on occasion as he can also create the cures for a number of diseases. Fairly recently he saved the life of Bunny Etheridge's husband Brian when he had been caught in a quarantined zone and infected with St. Mary's. Some claim that Creedy arranged for Brian Etheridge to be infected just to give the Pharmacist the opportunity to save him as a means of exercising influence over Bunny. * Raphe Equus is a human born from a Norsefire genetic testing facility, created in a lab. He was a prototype to engineer a super-soldier, a project which ultimately was scrapped due to its debilitating costs and limited success. He is a member of the Establishment and is adored by the public, mostly as he does not seem to be particularly superhuman. However, Raphe is not particularly favored by the Norsefire party leadership as they feel he lacks commitment. * Scarlet Fantastic is a mysterious member of the Establishment. Her past remains a mystery. She is incredibly beautiful and has married Raphe Equus and has similar powers to his own. ARGUS suspects she was another Norsefire experiment who was partnered with Raphe as a means of keeping him in line. * Blitz is a metahuman brute from the lower-class. He isn't particularly liked by most of the public despite his working-class personality due to questions regarding his faith, sexuality, and ancestry. Blitz doesn't usually care about his popularity but if confronted on any of those matters directly, he has been known to become violent. * Sister Superior is a cybernetically augmented soldier. She is a member of the Establishment, but like Jon Drake, she mostly works behind the scenes as an operative of Creedy. There is little information about her. Notable Enemies * Penelope Black is a British military scientist who disappeared during the Manhattaning but who has since returned after several decades of being declared dead. She is distraught by how little she recognizes her former country and plans to use her newfound metahuman powers to fight for change, working as ARGUS's main asset in England. She is the leader of the resistance which has donned the name 'Victory V' in honor of the radical in the Guy Fawkes mask. * V is a masked radical 'terrorist' operating within London. He blew up the Old Bailey on Guy Fawkes Day in 2016 and then proceeded to declare his intent to continue his fight against Norsefire, inviting all of England and even the world on joining his revolution the following year by aiding in his effort to blow up Parliament on the next Guy Fawkes Day. * Evey Hammond is the daughter of two liberals and the product of Norsefire's Juvenile Reclamation Project. She was a witness to the Old Bailey bombing and later joined V's efforts. She has become the liaison between V and the Victory V movement led by Penelope Black. * Knight & Squire are a pair of vigilantes that had, until recently, been tolerated. However, after recent events, the pair have become been declared 'radicals' by the Norsefire regime due to their targeting of Fingermen and Ear listening patrols, as well as their apparent support of the Victory V movement. * Willoughby Kipling is not only a member of the Templars, an occult movement which has been fighting against the Norsefire movement to preserve England's magical heritage. He is a mage of considerable occult knowledge and power, who despite only having one arm is considered by Norsefire to be one of its deadliest enemies. Kipling is also a member of a group known as the Archetypes. * Clarice Sackville is a witch who has allied herself with the Templars in its fight against Norsefire. She used to be hunted by the Templars due to her dark occult practices, but hatred for Norsefire has created strange bedfellows. * Dora Leigh is a member of the Justice League known as Godiva. She is English-born but fled to Ireland when she was arrested on suspicion of being a metahuman. She escaped custody, outing herself as a metahuman in the process and has become a vocal opponent of Norsefire. Recently, she has threatened to denounce her Justice League membership if ARGUS put a stop to her return to England to join the Victory V resistance. As she made good on her promise of returning to her sovereign home, ARGUS and the Justice League were prompted to finally address the matter of Norsefire's regime. * Maxine Manchester is a former member of the Hand who was abandoned by her special operations team after a botched deployment of what was believed to be a camp of low-level metahumans. It turned out to be a cell of daemonites who tore Maxine apart and caused her teammates to abandon her. Maxine managed to crawl to safety and cling to life long enough to be rescued, but not by the government that had abandoned her, but by Jacob Marlowe and his team. Believing Maxine to have information concerning the daemonite presence in England, the Halo Corporation saved Maxine's life with extensive cybernetic prosthetics. Though she had little information on the daemonite scourge, she has allied herself with the WildCATs and has begun to make amends for her past actions as she now sees the errors of her ways.(E27) The Norsefire Party Trivia and Notes Trivia * The party's actions drove Epiphany Graves away from London.Network Files: Epiphany Graves * Lewis Prothero was killed accidentally by Eric Finch on November 5th, 2016.VOX Box: V for Vendetta 1 * Fate's voice is female. Fate's nicknamed "Big Sister" as a reference to 1984.VOX Box: V for Vendetta Prelude Notes * Norsefire Party is an organization from the V for Vendetta comic. * Events from V for Vendetta are based on the movie version. As Roy explains: A quick side note, I prefer the film over the comic. It's just a tighter story, more relevant to me, and it has more logic to it than the book does. I tend to find this rather common when Hollywood adapts Moore's works as Moore tends to be a bit nihilistic and over the top in the manner in which he perceives humanity. ** Adam Sutler's name is the movie version of the name. In the comic, he's named Adam Susan. ** In the movie the virus epidemic allowed Norsefire to rise. In the comics, it was a nuclear war between the USA and USSR, and the devastation after it. ** In the film, V destroys the Old Bailey in the beginning. In the comics, he destroys the Houses of Parliament. * Party members believing Fate was hacked is a nod to V hacking Fate. * Norsefire's membership is composed of various characters: ** In the comic, the head of the Ear was Brian Etheridge. For unknown reasons he is known among other senior government officials by the nickname 'Bunny'. In Earth-27 Bunny and Brian are two different people and married. ** The head of the Eye is Conrad Heyer, Helen is his wife. Helen was an ambitious wife who controlled his husband. ** Rose Almond wasn't a head of any ministry in the comic, she was a wife of Derek Almond, head of the Finger. He was killed by V and his position was taken by Peter Creedy. ** George Cross is a vigilante called The Hood. ** Cyril Sheldrake and Beryl Hutchinson are heroes Knight and Squire. *** Knight & Squire seem to be double agents within the Norsefire Party. ** Jack Kellor is a mob boss from Mobfire comic. ** Roger Huntoon was a psychiatrist who focused on psychology of superheroes. He held a grudge against John Constantine for taking away a woman he loved. ** Daphne Pennyworth is Alfred Pennyworth's niece in Earth-One continuity (before Crisis on Infinite Earths). ** Charles Pinckney is character from Wildstorm ''team Stormwatch. ** Lionel Hawkins is a Checkmate Knight. ** The Establishment is British group of heroes from ''Authority comics. ** Jon Drake is the leader of Establishment. His codename is Templar. ** Steven Chandra is a member of the Establishment known as Mister Pharmacist. ** Raphe Equus is a member of the Establishment created through 400 years of selective breeding. ** Scarlet Fantastic is a member of the Establishment with mysterious past. She washed ashore a British beach with no memory. ** The Colonel is a character from Authority comics. He's a walking stereotype of a British football hooligan. ** Vera Black is Sister Superior. * Clarice Sackville is a character from Hellblazer Vol 1. Links and References * Appearances of the Norsefire Party * Organization Gallery: Norsefire Party * Membership of the Norsefire Party Category:Organizations Category:Earth-27 Lore Category:Villains